Macronutrient regulation in the Rasberry crazy ant (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Nylanderia</Emphasis> sp. nr. <Emphasis Type="Italic">pubens</Emphasis>) |
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Authors: | S?C?Cook R?A?Wynalda R?E?Gold Email author" target="_blank">S?T?BehmerEmail author |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, TAMU 2475, College Station, TX 77843-2475, USA;(2) Present address: USDA-ARS, KSARC, Weslaco, TX 78596, USA; |
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Abstract: | Animals grow and optimize performance when they collect foods in amounts and ratios that best meet their species-specific
nutritional requirements. For eusocial organisms like ants, where only a small fraction of the colony members collect food,
increasing evidence demonstrates that strong macronutrient regulation occurs at the colony level. Here, we explored regulation
of protein and carbohydrate (p:c) intake in the Rasberry crazy ant, Nylanderia sp. nr. puben. We did this using dry artificial foods (14–42% total macronutrient content) having a range of fixed p:c ratios in a series
of choice and no-choice laboratory experiments and used worker mortality to gauge colony-level costs associated with active
nutrient regulation. Choice experiments revealed that colonies preferred carbohydrate-rich foods and self-selected a diet
having a p:c ratio ~1:2. No-choice experiments demonstrated that food p:c ratio only moderately affected worker food collection
behavior, likely because colonies regulated the intake of only the non-limiting nutrients. Absolute worker mortality was generally
high, but lowest in colonies feeding on the food having a p:c ratio of 1:2 (the p:c ratio ants self-selected in the choice
experiment), although mortality was not significantly affected by food p:c ratio. The self-selected p:c ratio in our study
is consistent with that observed in other recent ant nutrient regulation studies. Taken together, the results from these combined
studies reveal emerging commonalities among ants in macronutrient regulation strategies, and similarities in foraging behaviors
and costs associated with macronutrient regulation. Finally, from a methodological perspective, the high mortality observed
in our study, when compared with other recent studies, suggests that ant nutrient regulation studies should be conducted using
foods having high moisture and total macronutrient content. |
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